1. This is where I alienate many of my conservative friends. As I disagreed with Governor Walker's over-response to his state workers, I can't agree with the attacks on Chicago teachers.

2. The Constitution memorializes freedom of assembly...i.e., unions. The reality of human nature is that people want more, and tend to look out for themselves before the society in general. Nothing wrong with demands.

3. We elect officials to make the hard decisions...to look out for the entire society, and to say 'no' when demands are excessive and/or uncalled for.

4. Justice means choice. The choice must be by recourse and devotion to laws made impartially, without respect to individuals, and applied impartially.... the execution of the laws must take into account human frailty, and must acknowledge the limits of reason, and, therefore, resort to impartial statutes in order to be fair. Greed, otherwise called covetousness, is a sin. Part of it is envy and resentment. But there is the nonsinful wish for more: ambition. The society need not protect itself from either ambition, nor from covetousness but, rather, from the crimes committed in their pursuit. Justice requires knowing what is a crime, and what is merely distasteful, or even immoral.
David Mamet.

5. In NYC, we rarely have a teacher's strike...because we have a law, the Taylor Law. If a union strikes, the penalties include loss of tenure for individuals, and loss of 'check-off' for the union...this means that the city will not collect union dues automatically, and send same to the union.

The union knows that without checkoff, most members will not send in dues: human nature again.

And, of course, union leaders go to prison.

6. Merit pay, objectively determined, would go a long way toward ending both the demand problem, and the resentment of non-union members.

7. Finally, let's remember that these workers are our neighbors, friends, and family members. What they do, is encouraged by the system, and, largely, what all of us would do.

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